Ketchum's Twelve
02: The Hong Kong Job
A PikaFlash's Studio Fanfiction
Disclaimer: All characters, songs and scenes belong to their respective owners...
An A/U Crossover Type fanfic...
Hong Kong
The group arrives at a hotel in Hong Kong, at the same time musicians from the Japanese band known as Puffy AmiYumi were checking in.
Yugi was knocking at Tai's door.
"Who is it?"
"It's Yu...it's me! Yugi!"
Tai opens the door.
"Have you seen Sakura? I've tried calling her."
Yugi was sitting with Tai.
"So, have you met Neji?"
A few minutes later...
"What do you think me in terms of leadership potential?" asked Yugi.
Yugi checks out what kind of suit to wear for the meeting with Neji...
Yugi tries to make some phone calls to Sakura's room, but it was empty.
A funeral was taking place as Sakura watched her ex-boyfriend in mourning over his mother's death. Later, Syaoran enters his apartment as Sakura watched from a distance straight into the night...
First Saturday, Eleven Days Left
Ash, Sakura and Yugi were walking along downtown Hong Kong.
"The fact that we're unemployable should never cross your mind," explained Sakura.
"Otherwise you'll be wasting your time and his," said Ash.
"And ours, and his," adds Sakura.
"And don't mention Kaiba unless he mention him first," said Ash.
"If he does, tell him everything," said Sakura.
"Right, stay on point and don't forget the one thing I told you," said Ash.
"About what?" asked Yugi.
"Listening," replied Ash.
"Just relax," said Sakura. "If we don't get this job, we're dead."
"Hey, Sakura, last night I tried to call you..."
Sakura and Ash pushed Yugi into the cafe before Yugi could finish his sentence.
"And I smacked the Meramon, and that's when I realized, 'Hey, that's why I've been feeling so warm recently'!"
Both Ash and Sakura laughed, with Yugi trying his best to keep up with Neji's form of conversation.
"To business?" asked Neji.
"To business," said Sakura. "If a Medical-nin who specializes in herbs falls asleep at her desk, dreaming about her work, when she wakes up, she would not remember her dream at all."
"Would you agree?" Neji asked Yugi.
Yugi had no idea what Sakura said, unable to give a yes or no answer. Ash decides to help him out.
"If all the monsters in the world are capable of flattery, then Pokémons and Digimons are made by the same TV Company," said Ash.
Neji gives a nod. "Once, my uncle crushed a furball with his magazine. Then I realized that it wasn't a furball. It was my dad."
Neji, Sakura and Ash looked at Yugi, expecting an answer.
Yugi tries to make his contribution to the conversation. "Prepare for trouble and make it double. To protect the world from devastation and to unite all peoples within our nation."
Sakura covered her face while Ash gives an odd stare.
Outside, Yugi was pacing around when Ash and Sakura walked out, with Sakura drinking her coffee.
"How did it go?" asked Yugi. "Is he alright? Are we alright?
"'Team Rocket'?" said Ash.
"You call that an idea of a contribution?" said an annoyed Sakura. "We haven't even started to get to the terms."
"And we were 'this' close to losing it, Yugi," said Ash, giving Yugi an indication.
"I don't understand," said Yugi. "What did I say in there?" Ash and Sakura looked at each other, and Sakura gives a quick nod to Ash.
"You called his niece a whore," said Ash.
"What?"
"A very cheap one," added Sakura. "She's only 10."
"Let's keep it PG rated, ok?" said Ash. Sakura nods.
"What does that mean?" asked Yugi.
"It means you're staying outside," Sakura said before following Ash into the cafe.
A man wearing sunglasses and a pair of white gloves was polishing one of his prized antique weapons.
Ash (V/O): Our target is Gendo Ikari, a semi-known recluse who claims to sell weapons but hasn't sold any. His shop is his privately owned home, which no one ever enters.
Gendo looks at one of his prized collections. A red 2-pronged spear kept in a glass casing called the 'Lance of Longinus'. Behind Gendo were a lot of TV screens showing security footages surrounding the house.
Sakura (V/O): Don't let Ikari's eccentricity fool you. His house is extremely well protected.
Outside the house, security cameras were facing the street, the wharf and anywhere that anyone could possible enter the house.
At Sakura's hotel room, everyone was looking at the plans for the job.
"What are we stealing?" asked Koji.
"It's a sword." Ash passed around photos of the object they're stealing.
"The most powerful and longest sword ever made," said Sakura. "Sephiroth's Masamune."
"The only one of its kind," added Ash.
"So, what's the take?" asked Metabee.
"2.5 million...Hong Kong Dollars," said Ash.
"Wait, each?" asked Metabee.
Ash shakes his head. "No."
"Who negotiated this?" asked Koichi.
"Come on, that's a lot of money to a lot of people," said Yugi.
"Are you out of your mind?" Eriol wasn't happy with the pay. "If we do a job at that rate once a week, we won't be able to pay back Kaiba until..."
"September, next year," answered Tai.
"Damn," cursed Eriol
"I hear you, Eriol, but it's what's available," said Ash.
"And if we do this job well, Neji will throw in another one that's worth 10 times as much, which would be enough to buy us an extension from Kaiba," explained Sakura.
"You hope?" asked Eriol.
"I hope," said Ash. "The good news is that Neji has given us the system's master code. The next thing..."
"Is for Ikari to leave," finished Sakura.
"That's the bad news," said Ash.
"Ikari's agoraphobic," said Sakura.
"You mean he's never left his house?" asked Metabee.
"Not in the 10 years he has move in," said Sakura.
"Doesn't this guy believe in fresh air?" said Koichi.
"He opens the second floor window every now and then," answered Sakura.
"What does that mean?" asked Koichi.
"It's our best time of arrival," said Eriol, looking at Metabee's computer monitor.
"It means he opens the second floor window every now and then," said Sakura, answering Koichi's question.
"Every night at 1:30, he takes an Ambient and puts on Beethoven's 3rd. By the fourth movement, he's out like a light," explained Ash. "So, we go in at 3am."
"Ok, can we tap into the system through the phone lines?" asked Metabee.
Sakura shakes her head. "Nope, a Closed-looped server connected to three supercomputers locked in titanium cases next to his bed." Sakura sits on a chair. "So, hacking in is out."
"I have an idea," said Koji, holding up a picture of the street behind Gendo's house. "Telephone repair truck, basket up to the second floor, use a telescoping rod and tap out the freak's code."
Sakura disagrees. "Dumb idea. One-way, one-lane street. Any blockage would bring the cops."
Koji nods. "Yep, dumb idea."
"The outside is surrounded by five independently wired surveillance cameras," Ash pointed out.
"Monitored 24 hours a day by a security company," adds Sakura.
"5 Security cameras? This guy really is a freak," said Koichi.
"Super freak," adds Eriol.
"What about the roof?" asked Koichi.
Sakura shakes her head once again. "Nope, got two more cameras watching the roof with pressure sensors...please don't touch my food, Pikachu." Sakura stopped Pikachu from trying to steal some food.
"And a laser net over the trap door," said Ash.
"I'd say we should smoke the freak out," suggested Koichi.
"Yeah, smoke the freak out," said Koji.
Yugi couldn't bear with the jokes by the others. "Hey guys! Guys" Everyone stopped. "Do you have to use that term?"
"Wa?" asked a confused Koji.
"The term 'Freak'? It is said that 5.6 percent of Adult Anime Characters suffer from of argorororaphobia at some point of their lives."
"Agoraphobia," corrected Metabee.
"Whatever, I mean do we really need to be the organization that needs to label people?"
"Oh, now we're an organization?" commented Eriol.
Yugi continued. "I mean, would you call Rei Ayanami a freak?" asked Yugi.
"Are you hosting a TV show we have no knowledge about?" asked Tai.
"Who's Rei Ayanami?" asked Koji.
"Don't you feel a little bit funny about robbing a...handicapped guy?"
Everyone looked at each other, and then...
"Nah," said Eriol.
"Hell, yeah!" said Koji.
"I feel funny about other things," said Koichi.
"Cool," said Yugi.
"But…" said Ash. He has an idea...
Sakura nods, understanding the same idea. "'Fishing for Giga Missile'. Metabee?"
"'Fishing for Giga Missile'," repeated Metabee. "Anything you want, I can get."
"Fishing for what?" said a confused Yugi. "Sakura, did you just made that one up?"
Tai was knocking on the bathroom door. "Hey, James! Would you hurry up?" Koji was behind Tai.
"How would you feel if someone bangs on the door while you're in the toilet?" asked Koji.
"Well, I have to get in there or I'll shit on your feet," explained Tai.
First Sunday, Ten Days Left
Eriol was on the roof across Gendo's house. Eriol tries to check if he could get the right angle of entry as Pikachu makes a few commentaries about his life before he was found by Kaiba (in Pikachu language). Eriol checks the angle.
"Uh oh. Pikachu, show me the specs."
"Pika." Pikachu passed the specs to Eriol.
Sakura and Ash were planning everything while Tai was trying to give Sakura some business advice.
"Come on, Sakura! I've been doing this ever since I coached my own soccer team. You're micromanaging! You got to have people you can delegate to. Otherwise, you'll never have a life."
"I don't want a life," said Sakura. "I want a hotel to run like a hotel should."
Sakura receives a phone call. "Yes? Ok. Great! I see. Good...Fantastic!" Sakura hangs up. "Guys, remember whenever you watch an episode of Yu-Gi-Oh, there's a part where Yami is very close to losing?"
"Yeah. 'Believe in the heart of the Cards!'" said Tai. "Makes me cry every time...not!"
"What's the problem?" ask Ash.
"We have no line of sight," Sakura said, sitting next to Ash. "Our only opportunity, the second floor window. We're three inches too high. There's no clear shot, not even with Eriol." Sakura placed her hands around the back of her head. "In the current physical universe we occupy, it can't be done."
Sakura and Ash were walking down the wharf, checking out the mansion from the outside.
"So, you spoke to the one from the Hong Kong Museum Job?"
"Rini? Got some ideas, but none any good. She's been testing out this new holographic technology. It's great; she can reproduce anything in 3D."
"Would 97 million be enough?" asked Ash.
"I think it would be pushing it," said Sakura. "You know what we haven't thought of?"
"What?"
"Giving ourselves up."
"I see. So, we call the cops, admit to them that we did the Kaiba Land Job. That will put us away for 20 years," said Ash. "Maybe that will teach him. Though I think Misty would stay."
"You would look great in a jumpsuit," commented Sakura.
"So, how's the hotel business?" asked Ash.
"Sucks. How's Cerulean City?" asked Sakura.
"Sucks." Ash looks at the sea. "I don't know, Sakura," said Ash as Sakura takes a look around the mansion foundations. "It's just that everywhere I go, all I can see are the angles. It's some sort of weird irony. Misty watching me scratch and itch. The world has gone nuts and you..."
Ash looks behind him, only to see that Sakura has disappeared. "Sakura?"
James (V/O): What you wanna do?
Sakura was on the phone with the others while having some Hong Kong noodles.
"The house has pylons under water. It's the only way for it to keep itself from sinking into the sea in the event of a heavy storm or typhoon."
Metabee (V/O): The whole house?
"We're going to raise the mansion slightly using those pylons."
James (V/O): Is it even possible?
"The great thief Lupin did it in Venice 20 years ago. And again in Istanbul about 15 years ago. Only with a crew of three."
Koji (V/O): Are you sure it will work?
Tai (V/O): They did it to the Leaning Tower of Pizza!
"Exactly."
Eriol (V/O): They had 300 men to do that.
"There are 30 Pylons. We'll only raise it high enough for Eriol to take the shot. By cutting them and inserting the jacks and crank them. It's our best option, considering that it is our only option."
James (V/O): Crank for how long?
"Like I said, our only option," said Sakura, as she takes another bite of her noodles.
First Tuesday, Eight Days Left
Near Gendo's house, a normal looking boat was at outside the wharf. Inside the boat, Koji, Koichi, Tai, and Yugi were pumping air into pipes that goes all the way into the cranks of the Pylon holding the mansion up. Pikachu climbs out of a pipe wearing SCUBA gear. As he removes the breathing mask, Pikachu calls out to James.
"PiPikaPikachuPikaPikaChu!"
"What?" asked James, who couldn't hear what Pikachu said.
"Pi pika pikachu pika pika chu!" repeated Pikachu, slowly.
"Ok." James picks up a spanner and tightens a valve at one of the pumps. "Try that."
Pikachu does another dive under the house to check on the jacks at the pylons as the pylons are slowly being raised underwater.
On the roof across the street from Gendo's house, Eriol prepares to take the shot as he and Metabee sets up the crossbow and clamped the stand to the ground to ensure that Eriol will get the absolutely perfect shot.
Eriol checks the sight. "I'm taking the shot. In three...two...one."
Eriol pulls the trigger...
End of Chapter 2